Bitter Sweet
by Daxter-Lover
Summary: What's a young girl to do when shes changed into a derret  Dog-Ferret  and her family disowns her?  Get involved in a war?
1. Life as you know it has changed, Forever

I groaned as the annoying repetitive alarm clock squealed in my ears. I opened my eyes briefly only to be blinded by the sun rays gushing in my window. I heard my bedroom door fly open as I hid my head under my best friend ever, the pillow. And then _his_ voice reached my ears. I didn't know which was worse, my little brothers' voice in the morning or my alarm clock. I grunted as I shoved myself up, my pillow falling to the side. "What?" I snarled as he began to say "Hey" for about the sixth time in that short time period. "Dad said to get up and get dressed…'cause it's 'Take your kids to work day'." He replied smugly, as if he were sharing top secret information with me that he had known forever. "Yeah okay okay, get out squirt." I slurred tiredly as I convinced myself to get up and stumble over to my dresser to find clothing. In the corner of my eye caught the attention of my computer. It was about the only thing in my room besides my bed. The PC Tower was blinking to show it was in slumber mode as I recalled last nights' events of me playing with my few nerd buddies on the newest online RPG craze called "_Ecofix_." I'd explain it to you but honestly. I could care less if you knew. I kicked my pajamas' into the hamper next to my door and pulled on a shirt that was so long it almost went to my knees. Embroidered on it were the words in different font and colors, "Dare to be Different." Those are like the four words to describe my lifestyle. Along with the words it was a white shirt with paint splatter graphics. I tugged on my favorite pair of blue jeans. I don't know why they're my favorite. They just fit right. Ya' know? As soon as I almost literally fell down the stairs into the kitchen I went to steal a pop-tart from my cabinet, warm it up, and chew on it as I followed my father and little brother out the door. On the car ride over to my father's job as an Eco Manager, it was abnormally silent. Normally my father cracked a joke or two or did something to fluster us like take his hands off the steering wheel, but not today. He musta' been in a bad mood I guess. As soon as we got there he nearly sprinted into the building only to remember had had children with him and stopped at the door, in mid-turn and said, "Echo, make sure your brother doesn't get into any mischief. I must finish some paperwork but then I'll give you guys a tour alright? Just stay in the lobby until I return. Sheila is a very nice secretary and will take care of you until I return." And with that, he disappeared into the door. "Come on Pip." I coughed as I walked over to the translucent door. Eating pop-tarts without anything to drink it with or drip it in was like walking through the desert. I swear on it! I held the door open for my little brother as he walked in, and followed in after him. I don't know why. But for some reason I got this weird vibe. Like a bad one. Almost as if I had the feeling that life wasn't going to be the same anymore. I sat down next to my brother in the lobby alone. Sheila must not be in at the moment. Oh well. I can take care of myself. Pip occupied himself with his normal shenanigans by annoying everyone who walked in the door. I started to stare at the boring office plant in the corner of the lobby until I snapped back into reality when the sound of a slamming door rung in my ears. I looked around for Pip then swore. "That little ass-wipe ran off!" I hissed as I got up and ran in the direction of the sound. The door I went in was hiding an awful lot. But behind it was a lot of giant metallic containers with various colors of bubbling goo inside. "Pip where are you?" I cooed, hoping to find him quick and get out of here. I heard a giggle and looked up to see Pip, on the rails that stood over the bubbling pots of god-knows-what. I ran up the shaky metal stairs and over to him, grabbing him roughly by the arm and I started to head back when that weird premonition kicked in again. I glanced over the rails to see the bubbling purple goo below us and shuddered. Pip was saying something but I couldn't quite hear him. I felt the rails shudder heavily and began to groan as if heavy pressure was being put on it. I could only glance to the side for a second to see someone standing there, before the rail's broke and me and my brother fell. I grabbed onto the edge of the rail, holding onto Pip's arm the best I could. I wanted to scream from the excruciating pain. It felt like my arms were being torn from their sockets. The rail's readjusted as I tried to climb back onto the platform. The platform trembled slightly from someone else walking on it. And towards us. I tried to look up but I was too exhausted to. I was using all my strength to keep a hold of my little brother. I saw shiny black boots. "Help us," Was what I was trying to say. But I didn't even make it to the second syllable before the black boots suddenly stamped on my hand, and I stupidly recoiling and letting go. We both screamed as we fell into the bubbling purple goo. That last sound I recall hearing before I hit the goo was my little brother's terrified squeals and a quiet husky chuckle. I felt atrocious amounts of pain and then black nothingness.

Was I dead or alive? I do not know.

Chapter 01 End.


	2. A Rat! It's my child?

My ears rung with a loud wavering sound that made me feel as if my ears were bleeding. I whimpered as I tried to open my eyes with no prevail. I felt so exhausted and weak. The ringing in my head slowly came to a low buzz and the sound of people's voices all around me replaced the buzz.

"What _is_ that?"

"Is it breathing?"

"Someone poke it!"

"Is that a ferret?"

It continued until I heard a voice that rung familiar in my overused ears. "What's going on in here," came the gruff deep voice. I tried to open my eyes but as they barely opened the light from the florescent light fixtures above blinded me. I winced and blinked a few times as I adjusted to the lights and shadows hovering over me. The shadows became people that my dad worked with, and the tallest shadow looming over me was my father. I glanced to the side to see a bunch of blood that lead up to my little brother. I made a horrified expression. He was missing his right arm, and it was currently wrapped up in his shirt as he was out cold. On his face and chest were scary, dark, foreboding tiger like marks. And he had small rounded lion like ears on his head. I began to panic and worry over him, until the sudden epiphany made me lose my breath. What had happened to me? I had no time to ask for a mirror or check myself over because my body decided it was time to heave. And so I did. I weakly pushed myself to my hands and knees and vomited on the floor below me. What scared me the most was it was a mixture of purple and red. They wouldn't mix into each other, just swirling around one another. I shivered and looked down at my hands to see not normal human fingers. But instead two sets of white and gray stripped paws. I flexed them to make sure they were real, and then looked down at the rest of my body and saw my same clothes, but a bit raggedy, and long white and gray stripped tail. I shakily stood up and checked myself over. I now had a long white and gray striped fluffy tail, and random gray stripes all down my arms and legs, as well as a gray patch of fur over my stomach. Oh…did I mention I resembled a ferret with pointed ears and an abnormally fluffy tail?

I was picked up by my newly attained tail and hung in front of my fathers' face. "What the HELL are you still doing here? Have you see what you did to him? Huh? I thought you were his sister! You've turned him into a monster. And you've turned yourself into an ugly rat. Get out of here. And stay out of my sight! You aren't my child! I wash my hands of you!" He screamed in my now furry face and threw me to the ground in front of his co-workers. I scrambled to my feet…err…paws and looked up at him. "What? I didn't do this to him! He was up here running around and when I went to get him the rails tipped over!" I retorted, angry. My father just pointed at the white door at the back of the plant with red illuminating words above it that said exit. To me it said "Hell." I hung my head and walked towards the door. I tried to push it open only to embarrass myself as it was extremely heavy. One of the workers walked over and opened it. I nodded at him and walked out, my tail dragging in the dirt after me sadly. I wanted to go home and cry to my mommy and daddy but my 'mommy' and 'daddy' didn't want me anymore. I didn't meet expectations to them as a furry rodent freak. I sniffled as I walked on. I had no idea where I was heading. But I knew a few things for sure. I had no home to go to. I need to leave my hometown, Lupin.

And…there's no looking back.


	3. A trip to the desert, then the market!

As I began to walk along the outskirts of the town I saw a small sign saying "You are now leaving Lupin, Take care." I felt my breath hitch as I read it. I slowly exhaled and walked out of the city, hands in my pockets. I had never really been far out of Lupin, seeing everything I needed was there and supplied, but it was thrilling. I found every new thing I saw exciting and wanting to know more. There were funny smelling flowers, weird looking animals, even awkward shaped trees. The ground gradually changed from plush grass to sand. This doesn't make any sense, I'm confused. Surely there weren't any big sandboxes nearby, so what was it? And the deeper into the sandy area, the weirder things got. It got hotter, and trees started to fade, giving away all of my wonderful shade. Grass became scarce and so did wildlife. I began to get a bit frightened. _ What is going on? Did the world end here or something? Of course not_, I told myself. I kept on walking until I started to get thirsty, and sweaty. "Okay Echo, it's time to head back and go a different way…" I said aloud. There was no one around but it made ME feel better. I glanced around and felt my ears droop. Every direction looked the same, and I didn't know if behind me was actually behind me or a different direction. I started to panic and began running in a direction, too agonized to think straight. The sand never ended. I couldn't find the grass. I eventually got tired of running and slowed to a crawl. My mouth was so dry I could swear it was going to crumble to dust and blow away in the slight breeze. I looked up and hazily saw what looked like a pond and a few odd shaped tree. I giggled madly and ran towards it, and sank to my knees and began to drink. I spit the 'water' out instantly. It was merely sand. I coulda' sworn it was water… I fell onto my stomach and wheezed. "This is it…I'm going to die here." I gasped and felt myself getting tired. I gave in willingly into slumber, nodding off into a dark black nothing dream.

I'm not sure how much longer, but it felt forever before I came consciousness. My eyes were still closed, because I was so exhausted, but I could tune into my surroundings. I heard the sound of people all around me, chattering, bustling by. The weirdest sound I heard though was the sound of a mans voice, he was speaking so fast but I picked a few words that sent alarms in my head. "Girl, ferret, rare looking, and sell." I opened my eyes and turned my head to the side to avoid the sunlight. I was learning to stop looking up when I woke up. But then realized there was no sunlight above me. I blinked and looked up to see a small, white and green stripped tent above me, a symbol of a merchants' tent. I saw them all the time in Lupin. I sat up and looked around in panic to see a bunch of unfamiliar eyes fall upon me. The guy to my left who I assume was trying to sell me smirked at me and then looked at the crowd, smiling. "See? She is alive like I promised! Now how many precursor orbs do you think she is worth? Nee? We'll start the bid at 15!" He spoke quickly, some of his spittle seen flying from his mouth. Eww, gross. The man was bald, in only a white tunic, yellow rope belt that hung loosely on his sides, and white slacks. I stood up quickly to my dismay to see my small furry ankle chained to the podium I was being portrayed on. The bids kept getting higher and higher, and more people kept dropping out. I began to perspire. I didn't want to be owned by some freak! I pulled on the chain, trying to free myself. "Let me go!" I screamed. Everything got silent and all eyes were on me again. Whispers turned to small talk, which turned to chattering. I heard things like, "She's kind of like the legend! You know…" I couldn't hear what the lady in the front said as she lowered her voice, then went up again, "you know, who could talk and always rode on that hunks shoulder." The other girls around her agreed and then looked up at me. I quickly looked away, desperate for a familiar face, but knowing I wouldn't find one. I took a side glance at the jerk trying to sell me and saw he was sweating. Had I ruined his business? People began bidding again, even wilder then before. He smirked, that gleam in his eyes' again. He began repeating them and trying to raise the price. It had gone from 15 Pre-whatever orbs to 150 orbs in a few minutes. I began sweating as more people crowded around. They all were looking at me. I ducked into a standing fetal position, tail between my legs. "Stop looking at me…" I whimpered as the bidding continued. I then heard a strong defiant voice in the back that belonged to that of a man.

I looked up and looked at him, blinking. "200 precursor orbs," he said with a icy stare at the others around him. He had on a more bright and colorful attire from everyone else. He had on a red poncho like thing with a hood connected and a yellow tunic underneath, and red pants. I couldn't see his face except for the icy, merciless blue eyes. I gulped as the merchant smirked. "We got 200 orbs here, 200 orbs. Anyone got 205? Nee? No? 200 orbs going once, twice, trice, and sold to the young man in the back," he said, banging his gavel on the podium placed in front of him. He waved off everyone. "Auction over, scat." He snarled as the people slowly began to disperse. The young man with icy eyes walked up to the front and handed over the orbs, and then grabbed me roughly by the scruff of my neck, and carried me off. Portraying me like some prize. "Hey asshole let go of me!" I snarled, trying to swipe at his face, or well, anything I could reach. He only chuckled coldly and continued walking. The scenery changed from a bunch of merchant tents surrounding us to a poor section of the town. A lot of the houses had boarded up windows and doors, shingles missing from the roof, trash was scattered everywhere. "Doesn't anyone know how to pick up after themselves?" I grumbled as the icy man pulled his hood over his face, trying to conceal it more. I looked down at the ground as the trash started to become scarcer, and things were getting better. Soon we were in an area I assumed was at least high middle class. The young man continued to walk until we reached a dead end. He grunted and made sure no one looking, and did this weird thing with his hand on what appeared to be solid wall, and then guess what? It actually slid open to a secret passage. He walked down the narrow stair case to show a small room with a desk in the center, the back wall littered with pieces of paper, maps, and dots on the map. The man set me down on the desk and grumbled. "You better be what every other talking furry rodent I've seen can do." He snapped and sat down at the desk. I glared at him. "What? Want me to do some little tricks?" I spat at him angrily. I didn't know if he was smirking or not, but it sounded so. He leaned forward, to where I could see a few details of his face. "Cute rodent. One more move like that and I'll skin you alive. Got it?" He snarled. "Yes sir." I mock saluted and he rolled his eyes. "Get in here now! Look what I've found," he called into another room. I heard a few different replies, which meant there was more than one person in that room. I heard footsteps and felt my heartbeat go up. This couldn't be good, could it?


	4. Welcome to the UnderGround X, Echo

I blinked as three people walked or rolled in through the door. The first one to walk through was a stout but petit looking woman. She had on a weird hat with creepy bunny ears on it and a frown-y face, it hid most of her short black hair. She had on a deep violet long sleeved sweater with toxic green ends and shirt collar, with an x cut in the upper center to show off some of her chest. Her shirt went to just above her knees, and way over her hands, but under was a black pair of pants, and boots on her feet. Her eyes were as odd as her appearance. She had one violet eye, and one magenta one. The next one that rolled in was a teenager with blond hair with red highlights. His shirt was a navy blue with fiery orange stripes on the cufflinks, and buttons. His pants matched well with navy blue as a pain color and 2 orange stripes down the sides. He stared at me intently, as if taking in all that I was and storing it somewhere. His hair hid most of his eyes from view but you could tell he had an eye patch on his right eye, with some weird marking on it. His other eye was metallic silver. The one who pushed him in his wheelchair was the most normal looking of them all. She had a beige and pink striped tank top, and matching pink pants and beige endings. Her hair was a nice chestnut color, and her eyes were an ever trusting forest green. I looked behind me, gulping to see the strange hooded man who purchased me to have his hood down. That poncho hid a lot. He had a weird marking on his right cheek; it came from the forehead through his right eye and down to the cheek. His eyes were a deep blue by the way. His hair matched his eyes in color, it also being a blue. He extended the hand that wasn't holding me. It was a metal arm. His right arm was metal. He gave me a confident smirk. "We've been looking for someone like you. Ya see. We're against the man in charge. For the past few years, it's been very peaceful in Haven City. Once the legendary Jak Mar defeated all the metal heads and Barron Praxis, and the right king was put on the throne. But something has happened to the king. He's been acting really weird, and deciding stupid things. We're against it if he's putting himself before the city." I looked at him speechless.

"So you need me to distract the big baddies while you all run? Count me out." I growled. The girl in the beige and pink stepped forward and leaned towards me. "Heavens no," she giggled. "We want you because you'd be great help on spy missions and stuff! You can get to places we can't! It'd be a great help if you'd join! Pretty please? You got to help out a bit but you can live here! We're all friendly here!" She said with a smile, then whispered in my newly sensitive ears, "Even hothead over there, even if he seems scary." She giggled. "Really…you want me to join your cause just because of who I am?" I asked, looking at all four around me. I blinked. "Well…I guess….for a good cause. But if I find out you're the bad guys I'm leaving!" I threatened. They all but the one they called hot head laughed. Hot head gave a small smile then frowned again, never stopping to stare anywhere else but the ground. I smiled a bit. The one who was in the pink and tan smiled at me. "Well. My name is Vivian! But most people call me Vivi." I nodded, to show her I was listening. The girl with the dark bunny head looked at me. "My name is Mio. Don't ask why. Don't ask who. It's just Mio." My ears folded back a bit but I nodded none the less. The one with blue hair and a metal arm smirked confidently and pointed at himself with his thumb. "I'm Lex. I think my parents named me well because it means defender of mankind and don't you forget it!" I nodded for the third time in that one minute, smiling now. I looked at the boy in the wheel chair. He glanced at me. "My name is Tek." I blinked. "Okay. My name is Echo." I said shyly, looking away from the group. They all made their gestures that they heard me. "Nice to mee'cha Echo," said Lex. I made a small attempt to grin, and failed. "There IS something you could do for us…if you want I mean…" Lex began and I rolled my eyes, earning a look of approval from Mio. "We need someone to take Tek here to the power station so he can shut things down while Vi, Mio, and I get a few things." I didn't bother asking what. I just nodded. I jumped to the floor and walked over to Tek; who began to roll himself out of the secret building. I followed him out. I gulped as soon as the stone door closed behind us and we rounded a corner. There were guys with guns and crimson suits everywhere. I looked up at Tek, unsure. "Those are Krimzon Guards. They WILL shoot you if you act up. Just act normal." I nodded and followed after Tek, and guess what? They didn't shoot. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I followed Tek all the way to the power station, but outside the door was a weird man. We both stopped cold as he looked over at us, then away. He was guarding it. Damn. He was onto us. Tek seemed to stare at him, much like that of a person trying to recognize an old face. I started to walk towards the strange man, but something made me stop dead cold; a scream. Coming straight from the throat of Tek.


End file.
